Arabelle Bottorff brought her son Marlon 4,700 miles from Hawaii to Florida so he could bass fish the world famous Lake Okeechobee. Marlon did not just bass fish the Big “O”, he battled the wind, rain, and chilly temps throughout the 5 days of fishing. The first two days were struggles here on Lake Okeechobee with chilly weather and wind guest 20 + mph. Marlon stayed determined to fish as hard and as long as he could each day. The trip ended up a great success with a good number of fish being caught throughout the five days of fishing, although we found numbers throughout the week we just never could land that giant myself and Marlon were hoping for.
We fished from Harney Pond North to Little Grassy to Henry Creek and even spent a day down in Belle Glade catching fish. Marlon learned several new fishing techniques as we strictly artificial for the first four days and spent one hour on the last day shiner fishing then switching to artificial. We caught fish on just about everything you can think of from spinnerbaits, senkos, speedworms, swimbaits, Alabama Rig (yes A-Rig on Okeechobee), creature baits, and many more. Perhaps the best moment was when Marlon caught his first flipping fish, the smile on his face was priceless and that is why I do what I do.
This is an amazing mom and son duo that are no doubt in my mind some of the best people in the world. Malron is perhaps the most grateful and respectful young man in the world. I know they will be back for many more future trips and I look forward to making a trip to Hawaii someday to take Marlon up on his offer for surfing lessons.
Check out some pictures below from an amazing five days with Arabelle and Marlon on Lake Okeechobee.
